The legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

On the 20th anniversary of her death, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is remembered for more than being a wife and First Lady. Her legacy extends to her role as a book editor and preservation activist, someone who embraced her third act when she was a widow again in middle age with her children grown. Here are some thoughts that I shared on Inside Edition.

Why I'm Running the Boston Marathon

A Stack of Books

Just thought I would share a photo of the backstairs leading to my kitchen. They are painted to look like the covers of my two books -- Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born; and Jackie After O -- and the middle three that my husband Anthony Flint wrote. If you look closely, you'll see that there's room for one more. Taking bets as to which one of us will claim it. Regardless, we're grateful to Boston artist Jane O'Hara for doing an amazing trompe l'oeil stack that makes our home even more special to us.

10 reasons why I am running the Boston Marathon

       1. Because I have two legs.

       2. Because I am alive.

       3. Because I don’t take #1 or #2 or so many other lesser things for granted.

       4. Because it’s for the GREATEST possible cause.

       5. Because Boston is my home.

       6. Because I’ve been a spectator for long enough.

       7. Because if not now, when?

       8. Because I’d like to experience a marathon as more than just a metaphor.
     9. Because I don’t want my sons’ most poignant marathon memory to involve a lock-down.

       10.  Because I need the exercise.

Please consider donating any amount here and join me in being an ambassador for peace.

Ben Bradlee's new book, The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams

I highly recommend my friend Ben Bradlee's new book, The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams. And because this is what authors and journalists do for each other, I have volunteered to tape a video clue for a contest being run by our mutual friend Scot Lehigh, a columnist for the Boston Globe. Here it is.

What we remember on Nov. 22

Does this one sentence, a quote from the nurse at Parkland Hospital, solve the mystery of what happened to Jackie's pink pillbox hat 50 years ago today?

"Some time later, Hinchliffe said, she learned that she had thrown away the pink pillbox hat that Jacqueline Kennedy wore that day. It was with the flowers she removed from the president’s stretcher when he was wheeled into the hospital."

You can read the nurse's story in this piece from the Fort Worth Star Telegram. It's difficult to know what really happened in that chaos.

Though there remain many other mysteries from that awful day, what we do know is that Jackie, like her country, persevered. She raised her children, established a career as a book editor -- not for the money but because she enjoyed the intellectual stimulation -- and became a preservation activist to save important buildings such as Grand Central Terminal. Those more life-affirming aspects are always what I prefer to remember each Nov. 22, especially this one.

Jackie After O is Out in Paperback

My book came out in paperback today. The cover photo is by Ron Galella, the papparazzo who stalked Jacqueline Kennedy Onasiss for years. I'll be giving a talk at the 92nd Street Y in Tribeca on April 18th to celebrate the soft cover and talk about Jackie's quest to find herself during the tumultuous year of 1975.